Novohispanic School. Mexico. XVIII Century. Important set of eleven paintings narrating episodes from the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Oil on canvas, (silk?) Some relined. 37 x 27,5 cm Very fine and delicate Mexican work depicting eleven scenes from the Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Because of the "incomplete" number, perhaps one is missing, which would be her VERAE EFIGIE, which would encompass the other 11 and close the gestalt or whole). Painted on very fine canvas (we believe it to be silk), very often used in pieces of rich workmanship to avoid the roughness of the linen weave and knots and to prevent the oil from forming lumps or sticking. The perfection of the painting on silk makes it a "hairline" painting, almost like a miniature. 1) "The Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary". All we know of her birth is legendary and is found in the apocryphal Gospel of James, according to which Anna, her mother married a rural landowner named Joachim, a Galilean from Nazareth and a descendant of the royal family of David. His name means "the man whom God raises up" and "preparation of the Lord". After twenty years of marriage the couple's longed-for child did not come. Barrenness according to the Hebrews was considered divine punishment. But both of them intensified their prayers. And so Joachim and Anna were rewarded for their constant prayer with the birth of a unique daughter, Mary, conceived without original sin and predestined to be the mother of Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God. An everyday scene: the newborn, lying down, watches with her eyes and those of her husband Joachim as the wet-nurses wash their newborn daughter for the first time. 2) "Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Temple". Also in the Protoevangelium of St. James we find: "When the child was three years old Joachim said: call the Hebrew girls of pure race and let each one carry a lamp that will not go out. And the child and her heart shall not look back, nor shall she look at anything outside the Temple of the Lord. The Priest welcomed the Girl and blessed her saying: "The Lord has glorified your name throughout all generations. On the last day he will reveal in you the redemption which he has granted to the children of Israel"... "And the Lord brought down his grace upon her". The parents returned from the Temple full of wonder and praise to God, for the Child had not turned her head away... Mary dwelt in the Temple of the Lord like a dove". The white flowers on which Mary walks up the steps speak of her virginity and purity, the blue ones proclaim her name, and the red ones foretell the name of the Son who will be born of her womb through the work of the Holy Spirit. 3) "The betrothal of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph". Scene that reflects very well the betrothal, which does not mean as today the marriage engagement or the proposal of hand, but biblically represented "an agreement that had even more legal weight than the wedding itself". The betrothal rite took place a year before the actual wedding. The betrothed couple were already considered husband and wife; this is why the evangelist St. Matthew calls them "husband and wife"; and they were expected to be mutually faithful for a year. 4) "The Annunciation of the Angel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary". In Luke chapter 1, it is described very well: "And when the angel came to her, he said to her, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women (....), you will conceive and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. (...) and then Mary said (Lk 1:38), "Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me...." And the angel departed from her. 5) "The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to her cousin St. Elizabeth". "Turn your eyes to the Virgin and contemplate how she lives the virtue of loyalty. When Elizabeth needs her, Luke's Gospel says that she comes "cum festinatione", "with joyful haste" (Lk 1, 39-45). (Lk 1:39-45). What stands out in the scene is not only the central and principal encounter, but also the contemplative men of the scene: Zechariah who receives her in his house, and Joseph who accompanies her in silence. 6) "The Adoration of the Magi to the Child God in the stable of Bethlehem". The visit of the Magi from the East to the Child Jesus is only recorded in the Gospel of St. Matthew, which narrates it as follows: "When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, wise men came from the east to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is the king of the Jews who has been born? For we have seen his star and have come to worship him". (Mt 2:1-12). 7) "Jesus is presented to Simeon". Forty days after Jesus was born, his parents took him to the temple in Jerusalem to present him before God. This was the command of the law given by Moses: "When the first child born is a male, he is to be dedicated to God". The law also said that they should present, as an offering to God, two young pigeons or two turtledoves (visible and present on the altar). Simeon a "good" man took him in his arms and praised God saying: "Now, my God, you can let me die in peace. (....) With my own eyes I have seen the Saviour, whom you have sent and whom all peoples will see". ( Lk 2:22-52). 8) "The Circumcision of the Son of God". There are numerous references in the Hebrew Bible to the obligation of circumcision. For example, Leviticus 12:3: which says: "And on the eighth day the child shall be circumcised. And the uncircumcised male, who has not circumcised the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has violated my covenant". Circumcision is the sign that identifies the covenant God made with Abraham and his descendants as the "chosen people". It is so important that the day Abraham was circumcised is still remembered, at the age of 99, along with his son Ishmael and 318 men of his clan. 9) "Jesus in the midst of the doctors". Also known this passage as "Jesus lost and found in the Temple". This is how Joseph and Mary found Jesus: sitting in the midst of the doctors, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his wisdom and his answers ( Lk 2, 46-47). When the Virgin and her husband saw him, they were amazed ( Lk 2, 48). 10) "Assumption of Mary into heaven". The Blessed Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was taken body and soul into the glory of heaven, where she already participates in the glory of the resurrection of her Son, anticipating the resurrection of all the members of her body. Therefore we Christians affirm: "We believe that the Most Holy Mother of God, the new Eve, Mother of the Church .... continues in heaven exercising her motherly office ...." (Creed of the People of God, 15). 11) "Mary is crowned Queen and Mistress of all creation" (Creed of the People of God, 15). This is stated in Revelation 12, 1: "A great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars". The rite of the crowning of the Virgin becomes a reverence for the Mother of the Saviour, a messianic King. Mary is held and invoked as Queen and Mistress of all creation; a mother who begot and gave redemption to the world. Mary is the august co-worker of the Redeemer. We can recall works from similar pictorial series, such as the one held by the Museum of America, an important collection by Miguel Cabrera of great quality, signed and dated by the artist in 1751, commissioned by a religious order and which has been in Spain since the beginning of the 20th century in the hands of the same family, before it was brought to the museum.